The Chief Justice has approved updates to four court forms:
- Notice of Address for Service
- Notice of Ceasing to Act
- Subpoena – family law
- Proposed Consent orders template
The Notice of Ceasing to Act has been amended to emphasise considerations of a litigant’s safety when filing a Notice that contains a party’s address details. The Notice makes clear that it will be filed on the Commonwealth Courts Portal and visible to other parties, and that a party does not have to provide a residential address or any address that would compromise their safety. If that is the case, the party should contact the lawyer ceasing to act to advise them within 7 days, before the Notice is filed with the Court.
The Notice of Address for Service has also been updated to contain the same references to safety, including noting that a party does not need to disclose their residential address if they have safety concerns, and that the Notice of Address for service it will be viewable by all parties once it is filed on the Commonwealth Courts Portal.
Following feedback from Legal Aid Commissions and on behalf of Independent Children’s Lawyers, a new Part B has been added to the Subpoena form to allow space for any Independent Children’s Lawyers details to be added. In Part A, space has also been added for any additional party details. A number of updates have also been made to the instruction pages, including about objecting to a subpoena and inspection of documents.
The Proposed Consent Orders template has been updated to remove space for parties’ addresses to be filled in on the cover page, consistent with the recent removal of party address details from court orders in family law proceedings.
